Between OPEC and the oil companies here in the US (record revenues and profits!) and the tree huggers who want more economical cars (and no trucks) yet won't let us drill for oil in the US, we're being screwed. And it's been like this forever! Will it ever stop?! Premium gas around here is already close to $2.50 a gallon and it looks like we're headed for $3 well before summer! FOCK OPEC and the oil companies!!!
Gasoline prices across the United States are moving up again and have reached a new plateau that could prevail all the way to next fall, according to a new forecast by the U.S Department of Energy.
The higher cost of energy helped drive up the Consumer Price Index by half a percent in January, according to another report released by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Members of the Federal Reserve Board said after the Labor Department released the new report that inflation is not a problem for the economy overall. However, energy prices, the most volatile element of the CPI, have jumped 4.7 percent in January to the highest level in eleven months, the Labor Department reported.
Crude oil prices are now hovering between $35 per barrel and $36 per barrel. Gasoline inventories are relatively small. Cold weather across the Northeast and Midwest hasn't helped the situation, analysts said.
In addition, OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is vowing to cut production in April even while demand for oil is growing in China and India, which are rapidly turning into major importers of crude oil. (They just recently reduced output by 1,000,000 barrels a day!)
"Defending the Prices of Crude"
Rafael Ramirez, the oil minister from Venezuela, one of the largest exporters of crude oil to the United States, said the cut in production by OPEC members might be only the first step in the organization's effort to defend the prices of crude. "The decision to cut is firm. If we see the need to cut again, we will do it," Ramirez told reporters at a gas conference in Venezuela, Reuters reported.
The Energy Information Administration noted in its weekly update on energy prices that with inventories of gasoline low, it is quite likely that higher prices probably will prevail through the summer driving season. The Lundberg Letter, another oft-cited source of fuel price data, also has predicted recently that fuel prices are heading higher.
American motorists are already feeling the pinch. Retail gasoline prices continue to climb at the nation's pumps, rising more than 17 cents a gallon since late December. Gas prices for all grades rose 3.61 cents in the past weeks to a national average of $1.68 per gallon, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations. The price of retail diesel fuel also was up three cents, reaching a national average of $1.69 per gallon.
The Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch also reflected the bump up in gasoline prices. "Currently, the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $1.930, which is 4.1 cents higher than last week. This price is 19 cents higher than last month and seven cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $1.958, which is six cents above last week's level, 22 cents above last month and six cents higher than last year. Motorists in the central coast pay an average price of $2.016, which is 12.5 cents higher than last week's price, 17 cents above last month and 14 cents higher than last year," the Automobile Club noted.